Farm Journal Media partners with WPP firms on Trust in Food campaign

NEW YORK: WPP Health & Wellness is working with Farm Journal Media on its Trust in Food initiative that launched this week.

WPP began working with Farm Journal Media last week, just ahead of the launch of the 10-year initiative and symposium in Chicago on Tuesday.

"We have an obligation with this initiative to connect consumers with the original source of their food, the farmer, rancher, grower, or producer," said Andy Weber, CEO of Farm Journal Media. "We are a 140-year-old business-to-business company that totally understands agriculture and our audiences, but we don't have any experience or the resources and contacts to make an impact on the consumer market."

Bryan Archambault, animal health and agriculture practice lead at WPP Health & Wellness, is pulling expertise from several WPP agencies, including Grey Health Group, VML, and Hill+Knowlton Strategies, to work on the account. The holding company will provide strategic communications and creative support to Trust in Food.

"From the WPP standpoint, we have great strengths in consumer communications," Archambault said. "We also have years of experience translating science and innovation to different audiences including consumers. There’s a lot of innovation going on in food that parallels what's going on in pharma. We can translate science into a meaningful dialogue that helps them understand what the benefits of innovation are."

The initiative is launching by bringing together and aligning stakeholders in the food industry, including farmers, food manufacturers, retailers, and marketers, to promote transparency and encourage them to adopt sustainable and humane practices. The campaign will also encourage stakeholders to be more transparent with consumers to increase trust in the food system.

Weber said most Americans simply don’t have a connection to how food is produced and have lost sight of what goes on to bring them the food on their tables. Trust in Food is aiming to "raise awareness and increase the knowledge base of consumers about where food comes from so they can understand what is required and support the farmers," he explained.

"They’re getting more alignment across the food system, from the farmers to food marketers to food retailers, and doing more education and awareness from each of these stakeholders in each stage of the journey," Archambault said. "We’re taking that out and educating consumers by providing content for them to better understand each of these areas, closing the gaps, and helping to understand how the food industry works."